Athena's Game
by AA Addict
Summary: *CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DUAL DESTINIES**CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DUAL DESTINIES**CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR DUAL DESTINIES* Yeah I went a bit overboard... Athena creates a present for Simon, and wakes him up. But in order to get this present, he has to undergo a series of tests. What could the tests consist of, and what could the present be?
1. Test of Trust (and listening)

**A/N- Warning, this contains spoilers for Dual Destinies. A rather big spoiler too. Well, it came as a shock to me when I learned this in the game, so...**

"Come on Simon!" Athena urged, pulling the pale teen off the sofa. Simon stumbled slightly.

"Athena, what are you doing?" Simon mumbled, a tad sleepily. After all, he had just been woken up from his slumber that had evaded him for two days. Athena grinned, her face shining.

"I've got something to show you Simon! But first, you have to undergo a series of tests." Athena said happily. The 17 year old in the black coat groaned quietly, but got up nonetheless, much to Athena's pleasure. The little 7 year old jumped up and down happily, and hugged Simon.

"You won't regret it! Okay, the first test is a test of trust, and how well you can obey things. I'll put this blindfold on you," She brandished a black scarf, "And I'll tell you how to get to the first checkpoint, okay?" She explained. Simon banished all thoughts of worry to the back of his head, and nodded. She went behind him and attempted to reach up to his eyes, but failed, even on her tiptoes. Simon was rather tall, after all. Simon chuckled softly and knelt down so she could fasten the scarf around his eyes and temporarily blind him. She did so, and Simon couldn't see a single thing. Everything was black, his favourite colour. I guess that happened when he was called Blackquill, and wore black all the time.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" She asked. Simon shrugged.

"Nine?" He guessed. It was her favourite number, after all.

"Nope! Two! Now, take two steps forward, and three steps to the right." Athena commanded, staying behind him at all times incase he fell. Simon obeyed, but remembered to take Athena-sized steps. One of his steps would equal about two of hers, believe it or not.

Five commands later Simon and Athena appeared in the robotics lab, where Metis Cykes and Aura Blackquill were currently working on a robot. Metis looked slightly bemused at her daughter and her student's little game, whilst Aura was sniggering at her brother stepping cautiously, occasionally bumping into a desk or a chair.

"You look like a complete fool Simon! What are you hoping to accomplish with this little game?" Aura snickered. Simon lifted his head up, as if he was looking down his nose at her.

"I happen to be playing a game with Athena. She wants to show me something, but I have to undergo a series of tests first. Furthermore, I like to play with Athena. I find her to be very good company, and she's a joy to play with, unlike your dolls." Simon rebutted. Aura raised her eyebrows.

"Look at you, all high and mighty beneath that blindfold." She said. Simon glared at her from beneath his blindfold. He still couldn't see her, but he acted like he could, so that he could creep her out. Simon and Aura were constantly at loggerheads, whether it be over the TV remote or over who had a better taste of spare time activities.

"You look stupid, you know that?" Aura said offensively. Simon shrugged, but Athena stepped in. She bit her nail for a bit, then stood up confidently.

"Simon-dono doesn't look stupid, he looks awesome! Like a samurai... covered in... colours of the... ethe...ether... colours of the everreal!" Athena defended proudly. Simon chuckled and lifted the little girl up onto his shoulders, trying to give her a fist bump. Aura shrugged.

"Got the little princess talking samurai language now? Isn't she too young for katanas and that stuff?" Aura asked.

"Not my fault Athena likes watching my samurai films with me." Simon said bluntly. Then Metis stepped in.

"Come on guys, we don't want an argument. Athena, lead Simon out of here, and Aura, come on, let's go get a coffee." Metis said, taking Aura out of the robotics lab.

Athena patted Simon's head.

"Back to the test! Okay, take five steps forward..." Athena ordered, and soon enough, the two were out of the robotics lab and at the first checkpoint. Athena cheered when they arrived.

"Well done Simon! I'll take the blindfold off now!" Athena said, unfastening the knot, letting Simon see light again. He thanked her, and knelt down so that she could get off his shoulders. Whilst he was bending down he noticed a piece of paper on the floor. After Athena got off he inspected it. There was writing on it, which he deduced to be Athena's writing.

"You found the riddle! Right, you've got to answer it to get the first piece of the big prize at the end!" Athena explained happily. Simon smiled at her. _She's really put lots of time and energy into this._ Simon read the riddle out loud.

"_There are four moods in a matrix._

_Happy, sad, surprised and angry._

_But someone in the world has very little emotion._

_He is devoid of the knowledge of normal humans._

_Who is he?"_

"I made it up myself, it might not be very good..." Athena trailed off. Simon patted her head.

"It's a good riddle. So good that I'm kinda stuck. Hmm... let's see..." Simon thought. Athena giggled.

"It can't be a ghost, ghosts have lots of feelings. A spirit? No, they're practically the same... Ah, I've got it! A phantom!" Simon said. He turned to Athena, who nodded her head.

"Now, here's the first part of our prize. Don't open it though!" She warned, and placed a manila envelope in Simon's hands.

"Thank you Athena-dono. Now, where should I put this?" Simon wondered. Athena thought for a bit, then came up with an idea.

"I know! Why don't you ask Taka to take it to the finish?" Athena suggested, her orange ponytail bouncing up and down. Simon nodded approvingly, and whistled for Taka to come. When Taka came Simon gave him the envelope, and told Athena to tell him where to go, which she did, but in a whisper, so that Simon wouldn't hear. Taka flew off, leaving Simon and Athena with a whole load of tiny brown baby hawk feathers.

_**End of the first test**_

**A/N- Hey! Thanks for reading!**

**Oh my God, I'm actually writing something! And now I've got a headache. But I've got to update 'The First Heist', 'The Magical Turnabout' and 'Death By' too! And post the next chapter of 'Trucy Justice: Ace Attorney' too first! I've got my work cut out for me! 0_0'**

**In my opinion, Simon and Athena's relationship before UR-1 was really nice, and it kinda made my fangirl mode go into overdrive. Just ask UnderThePureMoon for details! The way Simon protected Athena, and the way Athena became a lawyer to free Simon... utter awesomeness. **

**Anyway, tell me what you think in your reviews and what you think the big prize for Simon is going to be!**

**Oh, and I give my thanks to UnderThePureMoon for inspiring me to write this with her story 'in loving memory of'!**


	2. Test of Knowledge (and honesty)

Simon smoothed down his shoulder pads, and looked down at the little girl below him.

"What's the next test then Athena?" He asked the eager little girl, patting her orange head.

"Well, it's very dangerous, but has simple instructions. Aura had helped me with it!" Athena said vaguely. Simon raised his eyebrows, perfectly masking his slight alarm. He did not want to have to jump through rings of fire or anything. Not that Athena would prepare something like that for him. _But Aura might_. Athena took Simon's hand, and led him towards the abandoned conference room. Nobody ever used this room- it was unfinished, the paint was peeling off and it was adorned with Athena's wall scribbles from when she was a toddler. The new conference room was hi-tech, had recliner chairs, was pristine and had a wall-size screen for displaying blueprints and other mission related stuff.

Simon entered the room, and was about to go to the center of the room when Athena suddenly yelled, "STOP!". Simon immediately stopped in his tracks, wondering _why _he had to stop.

"The room, it's filled with lava." She explained, and Simon was puzzled. The room wasn't hot, so there couldn't be any lava, as lava would make the room sweltering. He looked down, and he saw that he was standing two inches away from red, yellow and orange coloured cardboard. He breathed out a sigh of relief. So Aura _hadn't _built him a death trap. _Thank goodness for that._

"So how do I get to the finish line then?" Simon asked, playing along. He noticed that Athena was standing on a cardboard box in the middle of the room, and was holding some cards in her hand, as well as some kind of remote control. She smiled.

"In this test, you have to get to the opposite side of the room. It sounds easy enough, but you're surrounded by lava, as you can see! But if you answer each question that I ask you right, then a platform will appear that you can step on! Do you understand?" She explained enthusiastically. Simon nodded, smiling at her. Well, a smirk is how you would describe it, but for Simon, and everyone who knew him, it was a smile of pure warmth.

"Then here we go! Los geht's!" She said, punching the air. _Since when did this girl learn how to speak German?_ Athena cleared her throat.

"Question number one! What is my power?" Athena asked, in a funny voice.

"You can hear people's hearts, their emotions. The voices of their hearts." Simon replied, almost instantly. Athena nodded her head happily.

"Yup! Well done, bravissimo!" She congratulated, and pressed a button on her remote, which lit up a plastic square in a hole in the cardboard. _I recall Aura being in possession of that. Aura also helped Athena make this test. Using ratiocination, I can deduce that Aura lent that to Athena for this purpose._

"Thank you." Simon said, bowing to Athena, who giggled in response.

"Question number two! What is Mommy's middle name?" She asked, and Simon's eyes widened. How was he supposed to know this? Dr. Cykes was his mentor, not his best friend! _But she's Aura's. Aura, surely you jest. You knew I did not know Dr. Cykes' middle name, and you used that against me!_Athena looked at the thoughtful prosecutor in training.

"Don't you know? Aura said you would... Aw, I didn't want the questions to be too hard!" She said sadly, looking at Simon. Simon shook his head.

"Nonsense, of course I know! I just have to search in my brain for it..." Simon assured, and looked up to his forehead, as if he was actually searching in his brain. Athena giggled, happy again, and Simon inwardly smiled. _Curse you Aura! _He started remembering some of the conversations he had in the past with Aura that concerned his mentor.

* * *

_"Simon, guess what?" Aura said, to the dark teenager sitting opposite her, reading a samurai manga._

_"What..." Simon replied, not really paying any attention to his sister. To be honest, he found conversations with his sister rather boring. _

_"I'm working as Metis' helper and understudy now!" Aura exclaimed excitedly, smiling. Her smile was a smile that even strangers could figure out to be a smile, whilst her brother's was a smirk, and only close associates knew the true meaning of it._

_"Well done." Simon congratulated, a little half-heartedly. He knew how much this promotion meant to Aura, he just wished she'd lay off the topic of Metis for a while, ask him how his day had been. After all, she was the closest thing to a parent he had now. But then he had a thought. What if Aura would start asking him when he actually paid attention to what was going on in her daily affairs? He sighed and put down his samurai manga._

_"How are Clonco and Ponco faring?" He asked. He hoped he got their names right. Aura smiled._

_"That's a rare question Simon! You've put down your samurai manga too! Unbelievable!" She said. Simon grumbled, and his smile vanished in an instant._

_"Just... Get on with it."_

_"Okay... they're getting on just fine. Metis is in the process of giving them arms at the moment." Aura answered, and then paused for a moment. "How has your day been?"_

_Simon smirked. "It has been just fine, thank you. Law school was maddeningly easy, as always. I am quite tired of constantly having to go through the basics of finger pointing and shouting, because, quite frankly, I can do both of those quite easily. It does not help that I am paired with the dimmest student in the class, as I have to complete work set to his standard, not mine. My standard is far higher than his, so you can understand my infuriating situation. Alas, I must continue like this if I want to become an accomplished prosecutor." Simon lamented, furrowing his eyebrows in anger. Aura sat still for a moment, then spoke._

_"I've got it. You want to become an accomplished prosecutor, right?" She confirmed. Simon nodded._

_"You want to stop getting paired with the dimmest boy in the class, right?" She asked._

_"Why do you peculiarly sound like a TV commercial? But yes." He said._

_"You want to have to do harder work, right?" _

_"Yes." He replied. Aura slammed her hand down onto the table._

_"Ask to be taught psychology by her. You'll be able to psychologically manipulate anyone in no time." Aura said, and left the table, revealing a woman's business card. Simon picked it up and inspected the writing._

_"Dr Metis Minerva Cykes, a psychologist at GYAXA Space Centre."_

* * *

"Minerva. Dr Metis Minerva Cykes." Simon concluded, looking at Athena for confirmation, who in turn looked at her card for confirmation.

"And... Yeah! It's correct! Well done Simon!" Athena said, clasping her hands in delight. Simon clicked his tongue, smirking. She lit up another square, Simon jumped onto it and she went onto the next question.

"Question number three! This is one that's been annoying me for ages! I know it's not totally related to us four, but it is kind of related to you... so... uh... yeah. Okay... What do your samurai movies mean when they're talking about yaoi and yuri? I heard those two words in the Samurai of the Darkness when I was watching it with you the other day, and you wouldn't tell me for some reason. But now you have to tell the truth!" Athena smiled innocently. Simon's eyes widened in shock. _Oh no! I cannot introduce her to THAT world yet! She is too young! What will Dr. Cykes think of me? But I cannot lie to Athena, she will know straightaway because she can sense the discord in my heart! _Simon was clutching his chest now, not wanting to tell her. Finally he took a deep breath, and opened his mouth. Today was going to be the first time he spoke without enunciating- on purpose.

"Yaoiandyuriarejapanesewordsweusewhentalkingaboutmenlovingmenandgirlslovinggirls!" Simon said, very very fast. As much as he hated hiding things from Athena, she couldn't be introduced to the world of yaoi, yuri and shipping just yet. Athena stared at him, trying to decipher what he just said.

"Aw, someone feeling embarrassed?" A familiar voice teased. Simon spun on his heel, and sure enough, Aura was at the doorway, smirking at him. Simon sent her his death stare that made grown men cry. Aura wasn't fazed by it though. After all, she had grown up with him, and knew most of his tricks.

"No, I was merely explaining to Athena what those words meant, in a calm and collected manner." He objected defensively. Aura wasn't convinced though, and she turned to Athena.

"Yaoi and yuri are-" Aura started, but was interrupted by a panicked Simon.

"How about we move onto the next question? Aura can go have a cup of coffee with Dr. Cykes." Simon said desperately, grasping at straws. The young scientist ignored him and continued.

"Yaoi and yuri are japanese words that you shouldn't be learning about at this age. You wouldn't understand it." Aura said, amazingly. Simon stared at her, and she winked at him.

"I'd do anything to be able to embarrass you, but the little princess needs her innocence intact for as long as possible. Plus, Metis would kill me if I told her. Consider it next years birthday present." Aura said, and left. Simon breathed out a sigh of relief. _Arigatou, Aura-dono.__  
_

"Okay... You didn't exactly tell me clearly... But I'll let you through! Next question!" Athena said happily, switching on another light and moving onto the next question.

Five questions later Simon arrived at the door at the other side, relieved that it was finally over. _That was like some sort of truth or dare game. Apart fromt he fact that the dares were left out._ Athena hopped down from her cardboard box to congratulate him.

"Well done Simon! Did you find that too hard?" She asked worriedly. Simon shook his head.

"No, it was just the right level of difficulty, Athena. You should be proud of yourself for making something as elaborate as this. Not many seven-year-olds I know would go to such lengths. You, Athena, are truly one of a kind." Simon praised, patting her head. She smiled up at him.

"Thanks! But I did get help from Aura, so it's not all mine!" She said, slightly denouncing herself. Simon chuckled at Athena's modesty.

"I guess that was the test of honesty, and knowledge..." She said. Suddenly she gasped.

"Oh, I almost forgot to give you this!" She said, and handed him a brown parcel.

"The second part of your present! You'll have to give it to Taka again." She said. Simon nodded, and whistled for his trusty baby hawk. Taka arrived in a flutter of feathers, landing on Simon's shoulder.

"Take this to the same place you took the last delivery." He instructed, and fed Taka a biscuit crumb. Taka screeched happily and flew off, leaving Simon to wonder what was going to happen in the next test.

_End of the second_ test

**A/N- Sorry for the late update! Well, it's the Christmas Holidays now, so hopefully I'll be more regular with my updates!**

**Thank you for all the reviews! They give me a warm fuzzy feeling! And I'm not exaggerating!**

**For some reason I put Simon getting flustered, I wanted to show a different side to him. And what better way to do that than put yaoi and yuri in there? Er, actually I can think of a few, I just wanted to include those for a reason. Don't ask me why, because I won't be able to tell you. I'll fall into the lava...**

**Anyway, thanks to all my readers and reviewers, and I shall see you either in another update for this or a different story! Merry Christmas, and may Santa eat all your cookies! ^_^**

**Also, thanks to Princess Pannero for adding this story to her Cykesquill community! If you're a fan of Cykesquill (couple or pre-UR-1) then there's loads of amazing stories in there! I'm a fan of both, so I love it!**


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